Abstract:
A growing body of research, based on large-scale international comparisons, has associated
socioeconomic development with several intervening factors, such as levels of respect for
social norms, interpersonal trust, degrees of confidence in public institutions, or incidence
of corruption in governmental bodies. The paper contributes to this body of scholarship
by comparing the differing socioeconomic development experienced by Chile and Argentina
between 1983 and 2013. Specifically, the paper inquires whether the greater socioeconomic
development experienced by Chile was actually related to greater legitimacy of the
law, higher levels of trust in public institutions, lower perceived levels of corruption, and
greater interpersonal trust. The results of our exploration do not completely confirm or
disprove this thesis. Instead, they reveal not only the need for a nuanced approach to how
these factors relate to socioeconomic progress but also for their forms of association to be
considered in the context of politically, socially, and economically fluctuating conditions.

Topic:
Development, Political and institutional effectiveness, International Development